All Is Not Well | Chilli Pepper Update! | Trying Out Hydroponics
After a blistering start to the year I am facing some real set backs with the chilli peppers. These guys are beyond desperate to get out of the house now.
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Oh, my JB. First: fungus gnats. I did not have them for decades but now they are a problem every year. I use a product called Gnatrol. Rather use nothing but as it goes Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis isn’t the worst thing. I use it from the beginning of starting seedlings and it controls them well. You just need to understand the life cycle and get a jump on the beasties. I also was thinking of Steve questioning why everyone is in such a hurry to start seeds. Starting things later has worked well for me. Finally, a technique that worked well for me when I lived in Maine with its long winter and short growing season was to carry all my seedling out when the days were warm enough and back in at night. They will benefit from the natural light and harden up in the wind. Bit of advice from an old gardener. Hope you don’t mind.
Over the water from you on the Island and had the same problem as you with competition under the grow lights, bit the bullet 3 weeks ago and potted the 50 January sown ones on and moved out in the polytunnel, and a week ago did the same with the 50 Feb sown ones. So far no casualties despite it getting down to 2 degrees, they are much happier with more compost and light.
Thank you for the chilli update JB! I love that you are honest about the high and lows of your growing journey. Gardening isn't an exact science when there are too many variables like environments, growing set ups etc. There's only so many things that you can mitigate and i do think that is really just personal to peoples own growing conditions, time and money. I have also noticed an increase in gnats again this year and i do feel that it is because of the warm and wet winters have driven up the humidity levels. Touch wood no red spider mites though at least! lol We are also desperate to get things out in the garden too. The weather has been so unpredictable. March was quite warm and now when it comes to planting out it has got cold again. Typical! I think a few of us have "cozy" plants atm but i am sure once they can go out properly, they will soon perk up. Our chilli's are quite small about 10 - 15 cm. Personal choice but we did pinch them out as our old Thai dragon chilli was very tall when we bought it and as we keep them indoors, i wanted to make sure that it wasn't stick before it grew side shoots. It does seem to be working for us. The new red hot chilli was already creating side shoots and is creating buds so i am planning to knock them off. They need up potting too but we are lacking space. It looks like we are getting warmer weather now so might up pot with a view to having a bit more space under the lights in the next week or so. Fingers crossed hey! Take care!
Be as smug as you wish JB joy of the gardener is in celebrating their successful sowings
Hi JB. I use capillary matting for watering on uneven shelving or you might level the shelves with spacers under the legs.
The gnats have been a real pain this year for us too. I swear by those yellow sticky tabs. They've been keeping the numbers down tremendously. I've also got some nemetodes ready to go this weekend. I use the mulch on the house plants but it's too much to buy the fancy mulch for all the seedlings. So I hope the nemetodes helps. Nearly time to put the chillies in their final pots. Weather is still too cold here in Sussex. Come on the sunshine! Xx
You’ll like the hydroponics machine. We got one from a different company as a wedding gift - similar idea as yours but less fancy - we now have four machines 😂. They are great for starting seeds. Most things germinate really quickly and then grow quite fast. We had some basil in last year and it grew way faster than we could eat it. Got some pick and come again lettuces in one just now and it is great - no slug damage. They work quite well with a heat mat below for chillis, tomatoes, etc. Micro tomatoes work well. Just be careful if you are planting out as the roots can get caught up in the cages and there can be a bit of damage if you’re pull the sponge out. I tend to just plant with the cage still in place then recover it at the end of the season. The downside is your neighbours will probably think you are growing something more dodgy with the light 😂
I'm a bit obsessed with chillies too. Just put mine out in the poly tunnel two days ago because the temps have been quite good. Opened my door this morning to notice there's been an unforecast heavy frost last night and I swiftly closed the door. I'm sure it will be okay 😱
Omg so glad you mentioned the fungus gnats! This is the first year I’ve had so many issues with them. Seen the grubs eating away at my seedlings 😂
Use the non-toxic sticky fly paper, buy the pull down rolls. Maybe sacrifice some plants to get a better harvest from fewer?
also realising we were a bit early, 30 sweet peppers setting fruit desperate to go out lol
Hi..I took your advice and tried the Sylvagrow compost and really haven't had any fungus gnats this year. I've been taking my chillies and Peppers into the green house every day (15-24°) and the natural light has really brought them on. Take them back in at night
I had dreadful fungus gnats when I was trying to grow my succulents indoors. The little bastards were everywhere, all over the ceiling and they were flying about - they were in the room I do Zooms in and people thought I was doing some sort of funky dance as I kept grabbing for them as they flew past my camera. I used fly spray but it wafted over my succulents and they melted!!! Never seen anything like it. So I avoid growing indoors now because my heart can't take it.
Same here mate, aphids are at as well. Need to get the out asap
Hi JB, I've had a lot of fungus gnats too. I hung a sticky fly catcher & it's really helped. I spent a good hour removing flowers & buds from all my chilli peppers. First year growing any & it's exciting
You need to grow some carnivorous plants (aka sundews or pings) near your chillis to deal with the gnats
Sticky fly traps or Apple vinegar in a cup for fungus gnats JB
I planted my chillies in late January doing okay . I’ve provided soil warmth by heated trays no artificial light in a westerly facing conservatory. You could improve the lighting using reflective foil the sort they place behind radiators . If you can’t space them out place a ring of low powered leds around them. You will probably overproduce at the end of the season.
I've done all my indoor sowing into microwaved compost, onto the good old super seven, lots of plants, had no gnats
I got sticky tags (amazon) last year for aphids inside my veggie beds (covered, which trapped them)..marvellous. this year, used them amongst my seedings and the yellow tags were almost black with 'bodies'. Really are worth it.
Hi JB, you need to get some carnivorous plants - they really help keep the fungus knat population under control. Would be good to do a chilli plant surgery at some point - people could send in pics and chat about what might be causing what?
I read somewhere that chilli's that are treat mean ie under watered will be hotter. We have had no end of problems with fungus gnats, it doesn't seem to matter what variety of compost we use the house is full of them, can only assume that it is because most compost is nolonger peat based as you only have to look in your compost bin to see masses of gnats so the eggs are bound to be in the finished compost.
We've got freezing temperatures predicted tomorrow and while it's due to warm up after that it's looking like it might go down to 1C as late as the 8th May. I've bitten the bullet and I put the heating on in the Greenhouse for the chillis last week. It should keep above 8C air temp and they're also on a heat mat for the roots. So far these chillis, which were under growlights before, are doing really well as light levels increase. The spares that were in a mini plastic greenhouse in the greenhouse had a tiny heater but stalled due to lack of light. I took those back inside and back under lights for a sunbathe and they are making a great comeback. I appreciate that I'm lucky to be able to heat the greenhouse but it will only be for a couple of weeks thankfully due to the cost.
Fun & games start when different Ph levels are required
I started to have a fungus gnat issue. I ran out of extra fine vermiculite that i normaly cover the seeds or soil with. This keeps the gnats from food source and soil to lay eggs. If I do this from the start when its time to repot the gnats are gone. If you have gnats cover the soil with extra fine vermiculite it will take time but they will slowly disappear.
yayyyyy i have hydroponics dwarf tomatoes and pak choi and cosberg and sweet peppers happy to show you if you want to see them by photos JB
Use essential oils to keep gnats away. A small amount on cotton wool or make a spray with some water a few drops. Give a good shake before and during spraying.
Which oil would you use?
🐝Thanks for the great video🌻
Def too many plants in there JB! Diamond mylar is great to line your grow space to make full use of the light. I'll send you a pic of my homemade indoor grow space that has diamond mylar lined walls on patreon.
Hi JB. I had a real problem with fungus gnats last year, so this year I have microwaved all the compost for use in the house. This has worked really well and although you might have to use the microwave when Jess is out, it's really worth it. Also, I saw on KZhead that leaving a very large tub of water in the greenhouse maintains a little heat. I only have a 2m x 0.76m poly cube, but it has definitely helped.
We had some fungus gnats with the indoor seedlings, but we also have (annually) a "migration" of lady bird beetles who get into the house as the cold weather settles in. It's spring, now, and they have hatched out, I'm presuming, and their numbers are great. The gnats being what they are, I'd never have thought the beetles might prey on them but they do seem to do. Or perhaps that's just a coincidence. The fungus gnats themselves eat the smaller roots of your young plants if and when the soil is too wet, or perhaps I should say "wet enough" to support the fungus gnats' existence. Much gardening love from Northeast Ohio, U.S.A. 😊💚💚💚💚💚😊
Have never heard of fungus gnats in all my years of gardening. I just thought gnats are gnats must be a modern name for them.
Hi JB, great chillies update. Thanks for sharing and take care 😊
Get some of the sticky yellow paper for the gnats.
I put grit on top of my pots has which has really helped with the gnats. Also inherited a new cat who is a great fly catcher
I had fungus gnats indoors from a houseplant. I covered the surface with aquarium gravel to stop them laying eggs or emerging. Solved the issue.
JB. with the Letpot LPH-Max, if you use the auto fill function the bottle must be below the unit or you run the risk of syphoning the bottle into the tank and overflowing. I have tomatoes in mine in the 2-pod deck, flowering already.
Awesome! Thanks for the tip Steve
🌱🌱 a few look a tad rough around the edges but sure they will pick up. Love that Zimbabwe black 😍. Is very interesting about the difference between the lights, you would think they would be super leggy not miniature versions of the others 🤔. Anyhow nice update thanks, be time to move them out soon 👍🌱
I sowed my first lot of chilli's and peppers early Jan, I have never had what I have had with them, fungus gnats and flying bugs, so much so i did a second batch about a month ago. the peppers I did a month ago are bigger than the first lot. I dont know if it was the compost or what, bad batch? Really makes you doubt your abilities!
Neem oil drench works very well against fungus gnats I found :) (Takes a little while to take effect but definitely works)
Try a product for mosquitoe larvae. I used Mosquitoe Bits, I put about a table spoon of bits in the water tray. It kills the larvae
Your chillies still look great 🙂 is it too much to leave your light on for 24 hours and rotate your trays just once a day, so they get more space and light? It’s an effort I know. Mine have overtaken the house and I just really want them out now as it’s making everything look messy. I use foil to reflect the light too, but it just adds to the mess 😂
I absolutely should have got into the habit of rotating yes! Just complacent/lazy/busy so forget to keep on top of them. They're in the greenhouse now!
@@JBNat Ah it’s not laziness it’s just life, you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself, especially when you’re doing such a good job at juggling so much 🙂
capping the top layer with fine perlite can help stop them breeding, other than being on top of dead leaves etc
JB you can get nematodes for fungus gnats also those yellow stickers you put in the pots are really good, admittedly they don’t look great but they do work well
I'm interested in your terms chinins and anans. Have you done a video about that?
Can you film a feeding session on these indoor peppers. I intend to experiment with indoor peppers under light, this year.
These guys at the moment are just getting a little bit of seaweed feed every other water. I'm not being very measured with it to be honest! kzhead.info/sun/pteNmLKEo4yiiK8/bejne.htmlsi=N-3yhNXdPuBURQNb this goes into how I feed the outdoor peppers later in the season :)
@@JBNat thank you, I don't feed my starts enough.
I advocate for not feeding seedlings! Grow the roots as big as possible and make them reach out for nutrients. I'm only feeding now because they're very root bound and unlikely to get much nutrient from the potting mix as they've been in it for too long!
Hi JB! May I ask what make/model of grow light you're using? I'm looking to buy on of similar size, and you seem happy with yours? Thanks!
This is a viparspectra P100 (I think!) it's linked in the description under my kit.co link (I think!) I heard they changed the design so it no longer has a full dimmer 🤔 whatever you do go for I really recommend getting one with a full dimmer switch, makes life easier for sure
Hi JB, I’ve grown jalapeño and some bell peppers, I’ve kept them in their 9 inch pots too long as there wasn’t room in the house and it’s been so cold in the greenhouse (I’m in Somerset) so would of got them out now but haven’t. They’ve started flowering do you think I should take the flowers off? Ooh actually should say I have given in and potted them on and are on every windowsill in the house 😂
Bit of a late reply but yes generally I suggest removing the flowers at this early stage!
Fantastisch Good video jb the chilli pepers now te planting in april te 10 mei wel best fried thans te video Good week 👍🌤🌸🌱🌶🫑
can't you use your letpot lights for some of your chillies 🤔
You will get rid of a lot of the gnats if you open your windows on a bright sunny day.
Where do you get your square pots from?
Elixir gardens :) Really good quality
Fantastisch Good work jB te video te Chilli pepers in mei 10 te planting april now planting thans te video friend Top ✔️👍⛅🌶️🌱☕
get yourself some BT and feed it into ur pots it eats the larvae and no more gnats after 2 weeks none left yayyy just keep a little damp the soil and thats all bt needs
Oh great idea I never thought of using it in the water 💦, thank you
Where is the accent from?🥰
I'm from England!
Ahh very nice! Hugs from Florida, USA🤗🌺
Disappointing! You owed us a tale of woe! Glad it's working out better. 'Ask Audrey.' Good luck with all the peppers. In devastating news for me; a buddleia died. Despite all I did, it's came back to life. What did I do wrong? That 'plant' should be DEAD! I gave it so much 'attention': this is the important stuff. But OK for peppers!